King Richard III England's Most Maligned King

King Richard III is undoubtedly England's most maligned king. His name
was most skilfully and comprehensively blackened by Tudor propagandists
including both Thomas More and William Shakespeare ... and no doubt on
the order of Henry VII.

Here's the man who allegedly murdered King Henry VI, his brother
George of Clarence, his nephews and his wife to steal a crown. Who then
tried to marry his niece to cement his rule. A cruel and vicious man,
whose hunchbacked figure and other 'aberrations' were only the
expression of his vile and evil character!

But was he really as bad as he's been portrayed?

Since much documentation has been destroyed and overwritten by Tudor
historians and propagandists, piecing together King Richard III's life
and character is not an easy task and many points are still subject of
debate.

But there's also much that we know.

Richard was born on October 2nd, 1452 at Fotheringay Castle in
Northamptonshire. His parents were Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York,
and Cecily Neville, daughter of the Earl of Westmoreland. Richard was
his parents' eleventh child and had three surviving elder brothers.

King Richard III Image from wikimedia commons | Photograph taken from a painting in the National Portrait Gallery

While his elder brothers Edward, Earl of March (and later King Edward
IV), Edmund and George, Duke of Clarence, were tall and fair, Richard
was shorter, slightly built and dark. None of the surviving
contemporary records mention that he was hunch-backed or in any other
way deformed.

After his father and brother Edmund had fallen in battle, Richard's
loyalty was given to his eldest brother Edward, Earl of March. He aided
him in his quest for the throne and was created Duke of Gloucester when
Edward became king in 1461.

He accompanied Edward into exile when Richard Neville, the 'kingmaker' Earl of Warwick took up Henry VI's mantle.

After Edward's restoration Richard married Anne Neville, Warwick's
daughter and widow of the Lancastrian heir to the English throne, who'd
been killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury. He was made Constable and Lord
High Admiral of England and was sent to 'hold the North' for his
brother.

In this task he seems to have succeeded very well. He was respected as a just and even-handed judge and fair-minded
administrator. He gained popularity as a skilled soldier and courageous
leader of men, and someone trusted to keep the borderland
secure against the Scots.

Disliking his brother's wife, Queen Elizabeth Woodville, Richard made
his home in the north at Middleham Castle, and only seldom attended his
brother's court. But when Edward IV died unexpectedly in 1483, leaving
only a 12-year-old boy to succeed him and naming Richard as Lord High
Protector of the Realm everything changed.

Unhappy with her husband's provisions, Elizabeth Woodville and her
brothers intended to outmanoeuvre Richard, planning a June coronation
for Edward's eldest son. But Richard was kept well informed and moved
fast. He intercepted the young king on his way to London and placed him
into custody in the Tower of London - apparently to await his
coronation.

And there his younger brother soon joined him.

Richard was an astute politician and must have realised the danger
that the influence of the Woodvilles would be to the stability of the
kingdom while Edward's son was so young. He would have moved to counter
that influence, replacing men loyal to the Woodvilles with his own
supporters.

Nobody knows if Richard always had the intention to make himself king
or if he choose this option as the only way to avert another war ...
but increasingly the validity of his brother's marriage and the
legitimacy of his children were being questioned.

Edward IV had been known for his promiscuity and the idea that he may
have promised marriage to another woman before he married his queen did
not appear too far fetched. And at that time, both the Royal princes
were still seen playing or practising at arms in the Tower gardens. But
gradually, they began to appear less and less frequently until the
rumours began that their uncle had had them murdered.

That Richard did not immediately produce the boys as counter evidence
suggests that they were indeed dead, but who was behind the deed is not
so easily determined. Would Richard choose a course that would do the
greatest possible harm to his chances, his reputation and the goodwill
of the people he relied on? Or were others out to spoil his chances and
reputation for him? The Duke of Buckingham and Henry Tudor, the future
Henry VII, have both been cited as possible instigators and
beneficiaries of the princes' death. And still the debate goes on.

Yet despite the rumours and counter-rumours Parliament accepted the
argument and the marriage between Edward of York and Elizabeth Woodville
was declared invalid on 25 June 1483. Richard's claim to the crown was
recognised and on July 6th, 1483 he was crowned King Richard III.

Regarded as a 'Northerner', he was feared rather than loved in the
south of England, but the people of York celebrated the new ruler with a
magnificent ceremony at the York Minster, where Richard's son Edward
was created Prince of Wales. Nobody who knew Richard in the North seems
to have believed the rumours of murder and usurpation, but in the rest
of the realm the rumours did not die down. Neither did the uprisings.
First, in October 1483, the Duke of Buckingham rose against King Richard
III - and lost his head when his army deserted and he was captured.
Then the Woodvilles joined forces with the Lancastrian Henry Tudor who
tried to invade England but turned tail and sailed back to France when
he heard of Buckingham's death.

In April 1484 King Richard III's son and heir died. Richard was
distraught, but at least nobody accused him of having poisoned his son
... which is what happened when his wife died of tuberculosis a year
later. By then Edward IV's daughters had been received at court and
rumours were spreading that King Richard III meant to marry his niece.

But the death of the young Prince of Wales left the king in a
vulnerable position and in the spring of 1485 Henry Tudor was planning
another invasion, while King Richard III made plans to oppose him. He
relied on the Duke of Norfolk and the Earls of Huntingdon, Westmoreland
and Northumberland for support when the forces met on Bosworth Field on
August 22nd, 1485.

Richard fought courageously but was deserted on the field by his
allies, notably Lord Stanley. He was slain trying to fight his way
through to Henry Tudor. The dead king's body was stripped naked, slung
over a packhorse and taken to be exhibited at Leicester. He was later
buried at Greyfriar's Abbey in Leicester.

Legend tells us that after the battle, King Richard III's crown was found hanging on a thorn bush.

Fiction about King Richard III

The brilliant retelling of the Wars of the Roses continues with Bloodline, the gripping third novel in the new series from historical fiction master Conn Iggulden.